Netherlands: killing elderly with dementia, even when they say “I don’t want to die”

Posted 30 January 2017byMatthew

by Hannah Crouch, The Scottish Sun, 28 January 2017

Ms Crouch reports on the case of a Dutch woman whose doctor decided it was time for her to die, secretly drugged her coffee, and – ignoring her pleas of “I don’t want to die” – had her family hold her down while killing her.

The unnamed patient, 80, reportedly suffered from dementia and had earlier expressed a desire for euthanasia when she deemed “the time was right”.

As her situation deteriorated she was placed in care home with medical paperwork revealing she often exhibited signs of fear and anger.

A senior doctor at the nursing home was of the opinion that the woman was suffering intolerably and was no longer in a position to confirm when the time was right for euthanasia to go ahead.

The doctor was also of the opinion that the woman’s circumstances made it clear the time was right now.

She secretly placed a sleeping pill in the patient’s coffee and then gave her a a lethal injection.

The patient woke up while the doctor was trying to administer the injection and began fighting back.

Paperwork, which was given to a Regional Review Committee, showed that the only way the doctor could complete the injection was by getting family members to help restrain the patient.

It was also revealed that the patient said “I don’t want to die” several times before she was put to death and the doctor did not speak to her about what was planned as she did not want to cause unnecessary distress.

The patient was also unaware that a sleeping pill was placed in her coffee.

Jacob Kohnstamm, the chair of the Regional Review Committee, said he was in favour of the case being reviewed by a court:

“Not to punish the doctor, who acted in good faith and did what she had to do, but to get judicial clarity over what powers a doctor has when it comes to the euthanasia of patients suffering from severe dementia.”

The Care Alliance says: Let’s be clear – this is murder. And when euthanasia advocates in New Zealand say there is no evidence of abuse in the Netherlands, this is what they are endorsing. ‘In good faith’, of course.